Saint Gregory of Autun

His eminent qualities, to which a great reputation was attached, did not allow him to remain for long, as he desired, a simple priest in his native city. Soon he was raised, despite himself, to the see of La ngres (506), aft siège de Langres City of origin of the cleric Warnahaire and several cited martyrs. er the death of Albison, a former disciple of Saint Euphronius, the same who carried to Saint Sidonius Apollinaris a letter from that great prelate. The affection, gratitude, and regrets of his fellow citizens followed the new bishop to Langres; and the sorrow of losing him was softened only by the thought that he would then be doing good on a much larger stage. They were not mistaken. Langres and Dijon, wher e Gre Dijon City where the relics were temporarily hidden and disputed. gory alternately resided, were the happy witnesses of his holiness.

The holy pontiff practiced all Christian and episcopal virtues with admirable perfection. His mortification was so great that he took as food only a little barley bread with water; and the holy rigors of his abstinence, always covered by the veil of humility, were known only to the servant who attended him. All the time that was not employed in the works of pastoral ministry, he devoted to prayer, and he even spent a good part of the nights at the baptistery of Saint-Vincent, adjacent to his residence and the ancient church of Saint-Étienne in Dijon. There, while everyone rested, he, prostrate before God, kept watch alone, offering himself as a victim, interceding for his people, meditating on the extent of his duties and on eternal truths. There, he drew from his intimate communications with heaven the instructions full of solidity and unction that he addressed to the people, nourished his pastoral zeal, and warmed more and more that inexhaustible charity which made him poor for Jesus Christ and caused him to distribute to the needy not only the revenues of his church, but also his rich patrimony. "He lived," says Gregory of Tours, "like an anchorite in the midst of the world." Moreover, profound in doctr Grégoire de Tours Bishop and historian who mentions the martyrdom of Antolian. ine, of consummate experience, possessing that practical knowledge of men and things that one draws from the handling of public affairs, he was finally one of the most remarkable men of the 6th century. God willed, even before rewarding such an admirable life in eternity, to honor him here below in the eyes of men by the gift of miracles. The holy bishop performed a great number of wonders that his great-grandson, Gregory of Tours, recorded in the immortal pages of his history and whose details would lead us too far.

Around the year 507, having learned of the flight of John, founder of the famous abbey of Saint-Jean de Réom Saint-Jean de Réome Monastery whose founder was mentioned by Gregory. e or Moutier-Saint-Jean, and his retreat to the monastery of Lérins, Gregory immediately wrote to him as well as to the abbot of Lérins to recall him to Réome. The holy prelate feared that the fate of this newly founded abbey, to which he was very attached, would be seriously compromised by the disappearance of its founder; and, moreover, he would have been devastated if his diocese lost a man of such great merit. Here is the letter he addressed to the pious fugitive: "Hasten, I beseech you, to return to the midst of the children you have abandoned. If you reject my prayer, fear the judgment of God; for you will be asked to give a rigorous account of the evils caused by your flight to this community of which you are the father and which you have left orphaned. It is in desolation and will soon disperse like a flock without a shepherd." The humble abbot could not resist such pressing solicitations coming from so high a source. He returned to his abbey, which he continued to govern until his death. The illustrious bishop of Langres, after having recovered the founder of Réome, had the further consolation of seeing another Saint endow his diocese with a second monastery. Thi saint Seine (Sequanus) Saint who founded a monastery in the diocese of Langres. s was Saint Seine (Sequanus), the only descendant of a noble family from Mémont, near Dijon, who, abandoning the world, came to Réome to place himself under the direction of Saint John.

Gregory translated the relics of Saint Benig nus and built saint Bénigne Apostle of Burgundy whose relics were honored by Gregory. for them a superb church as a tomb, surrounded by an abbey which, for many centuries, spread true light and true charity throughout Burgundy. Besides this church, there were two others: one consecrated to Saint John and dedicated by Saint Benignus himself; the other built in ancient times over the tomb of Saint Paschasie. The space between these three churches was scattered with numerous graves, which became more numerous every day; for Christians were eager to sleep their final sleep near the tombs of the Saints. They never ceased to frequent a place that had become sacred to them, buried their martyrs and bishops there, and built oratories there. In the 6th century, the custom of being buried there was so general that Gregory resolved to canonically establish it as a Christian cemetery, and forbade by decree all the faithful from ever being buried elsewhere. This was the final act of this great bishop's piety toward the blessed apostle of Burgundy.

In 517, he made his virtues and wisdom admired at the Council of Epao concile d'Épaone Provincial council held in 517 to organize the Church in the Burgundian kingdom. ne. During this journey, he had the joy of seeing again, after many years, his fri end, the holy abbo saint abbé Lautein Abbot of Saint-Symphorien and friend of Gregory. t Lautein, whom he had known in Autun at the Abbey of Saint-Symphorien. The zealous and tireless pontiff wished, despite the weight of his years, to attend the Council of Orleans and the Council of Clermont: nothing seemed too difficult for him when it concerned the good of the Church and the glory of God. He would have liked to be able to attend another council held in Orleans in 538; but this time, broken by old age, he was obliged to be represented there by the priest Evance. Shortly after, having undertaken, without consulting his strength, on the occasion of the approaching feast of the Epiphany, the journey from Dijon to Langres, for he was accustomed to going to celebrate all the great solemnities of the Church in that city, the venerable old man was seized by a fever that soon extinguished the little life that remained in him. He died at the age of ninety (539), after a long and laborious episcopate, full of good works and sanctified by every virtue.

In images of Saint Gregory, one sometimes sees angels depicted. It is indeed said that, while praying in the church he had built over the tomb of Saint Benignus of Dijon, he heard angelic voices celebrating the praises of God. He is also represented: 1° holding prisoners' shackles in his hand, because captives were miraculously delivered from their chains when his body passed before the doors of their prison; 2° before a church door; his legend reports that every night he went to the church to offer his prayers, and that the doors opened by themselves when he appeared, then closed when he had left.

[APPENDIX: CULT AND RELICS.]

Scarcely had he breathed his last when the heavenly glory into which his holy soul had just entered was seen to cast a reflection upon his face, which appeared radiant. His complexion took on the fresh carnation of the rose, and his body, white as a lily, seemed marked with the seal of the blessed resurrection.

A miracle performed at his funeral increased the opinion held of his holiness. As his body was being carried to the place of burial, the prisoners implored his help, and instantly the prison before which the procession was passing opened of its own accord.

He was, in accordance with his wishes, transported to Dijon and buried in the cemetery of Saint-Benignus, in that same church of Saint-Jean, where his predecessor Saint Urban already slept in peace.

Tetricus, son and successor of Saint Gregory to the episcopal see of Langres, per formed Tetric Son and successor of Gregory to the see of Langres. a new translation of the holy body. The years spent in the sepulcher had brought about no corruption of either the body or the fabrics that enveloped it. A portion of his relics was brought to the cathedral of Langres in 1282.

Guy of Geneva, Bishop of Langres, performed a solemn recognition of them and enclosed them in a silver reliquary which was placed on a column behind the high altar of Saint-Mammès. The ceremony was carried out in the presence of the clergy gathered in synod.

Excerpt from Saint Symphorien et son culte, by Abbé Dinot. — Cf. Vies des Saints de la Haute-Marne, by Abbé Godard; Vies des Saints de Dijon, by Abbé Duplos.